


Out of Her Tree: 3 ficlets

by koalathebear



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-28 15:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/pseuds/koalathebear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3 related ficlets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Her Tree: 3 ficlets

**Ficlet #1**

Hermione shivered. She, Harry and the Weasleys had set out very early that morning. It had taken been hard to get up when it was so cold and dark. She shivered slightly as she walked beside Ginny. Trekking in darkness wasn't her preferred way of spending a cold and dark morning.

"All this, for Quidditch?" she muttered beneath her breath as she and Ginny drew up to the rear of the group. Glancing up among the trees, she saw a tall figure standing on his own beneath a large tree. He was a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard and he grinned at them broadly as he was introduced as Amos Diggory.

Just as Hermione was registering his very familiar surname, something dropped out of the branches of the tree with a loud sound. The falling object promptly rose from his crouch and glanced around at them in a cheerful and inquiring manner.

  


Hermione and Ginny immediately exchanged very speaking glances as they recognised the tall boy with the tousled dark hair as Cedric Diggory. The Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team had grown taller over the holidays and appeared to have grown even more handsome in the intervening time if that was possible.

Looking completely unperturbed by his unconventional arrival, he smiled at them all and his grey eyes were alight with excitement and pleasure as he listened to the introductions.

Although Fred and George merely nodded brusquely, still sore at him and blaming him unfairly for Gryffindor's defeat at Quidditch in the earlier year, Ginny and Hermione glanced at one another again with mischievous smiles. Cedric was very well-liked and respected and his good-looks were definitely not wasted on the two of them.

"Right, we're off," Mr Diggory announced as they started the walk towards the Portkey located at Stoatshead Hill.

It proved to be a very long and arduous walk and they walked in silence down the dark lane toward the village. Hermione's hands and feet were freezing and it was with an effort that she stopped her teeth from chattering.

As she realised that she had lost all sensation in her toes, she noted that Mr Weasley was continually checking his watch although he didn't reproach them for their slowness and merely encouraged them to maintain a brisk pace.

"Are we there yet?" she muttered irritably beneath her breath which proved to be a mistake as her slip in concentration led to her stumbling awkwardly on the wet grass.

"Careful!.... I've got you!" Cedric exclaimed, reaching out to steady her. He had been walking alongside her but hadn't said a word. No one was speaking on that long walk, there was no time and no breath to spare.

"You all right?" he asked her and she nodded, walking quickly to try to keep up with the group. To her dismay, she had already discovered that she was falling behind a little and now with the stumble she was trailing even further behind. No one else had even noticed but Cedric stayed back to accompany her.

"I _*huff*_ have _*puff*_ a * _puff*_ question _*gasp*_ ," she managed to pant breathlessly as she walked and Cedric laughed.

"Feel free to ask but I'm not sure if I should be encouraging you to talk should given that you seem to need all the breath you can get. You sound a bit like my old gran when she's having one of her anxiety attacks," he teased her mischievously.

" _*Gasp*_ not funny," she wheezed. She found that she had to stop for a moment and paused, gasping, bending over and clutching at the stitch in her side while she grimaced in pain.

"Yeah rest a tick," he told her, pausing beside her.

"Just _*gasp*_ for a _*gasp*_ moment," she agreed and pushed her heavy dark hair from her face. " _Why_ were you lurking in that _*puff*_ tree?" she asked him.

He gave a short shout of laughter which made the others turn around inquiringly.

"Get a move on!" Ron called out scathingly and Hermione shot him a resentful glance.

"Shall we?" Cedric asked, holding out his hand. She hesitated, put her hand in his and allowed him to tug her along. He released her hand once they'd started walking again.

"You don't think it's a bit weird to be sitting in a tree?" she asked him breathlessly, her words slightly more even after her short rest although there was still a gasp in her voice.

The climb up Stoatshead Hill was even more tortuous and there was much stumbling in hidden rabbit holes, slipping and muttered imprecations.

"I've got you," Cedric said when Hermione slipped again, gripping firmly on her wrist to stop her from falling. With a firm jerk he hauled her up and pointed to a clump of grass. "Hold onto that for balance...." She nodded and pulled herself up.

"Well we'd been waiting for you all for quite a while this morning. I got a bit bored, so climbed up into the tree to see if I could catch a glimpse of you". He grinned boyishly.

She reached up for a rock which came away in her hand and she found herself stumbling again. Cedric who had been watching over her like a hawk was not caught by surprise and he reached out almost casually and caught her before she could fall.

"So you decided you'd just sit in a tree - like a bird?" she asked him as he held her against him for a brief moment. She noted enviously that he was only slightly out of breath. He smiled down at her.

"Sitting in a tree does wonders for your head," he said. "Admiring the view ... it clears your thoughts ... works like a charm," he told her. "You should try it sometime," he suggested.

He released her. "Careful," he told her encouragingly and she nodded. Each breath Hermione took was sharp in her chest and her legs were starting to seize up on her.

"Not far yet, chin up, Granger," he said encouragingly and there was no note of condescension in his voice.

Despite the seizing up of her cold and exhausted limbs and the lack of oxygen in her lungs, Hermione found herself smiling at Cedric and the grey-eyed prefect smiled right back at her. She had never felt warmer.

 **Ficlet #2**

"Now where are you lot off to in such a tearing hurry?" Cedric asked, reaching out and seizing the boys who were boasting laughingly as they charged back into the corridors of the castle, clearly gleeful and gloating over something they had just done.

"Class of course so you'd best not make us late," a drawling voice said from behind him and Cedric turned at the familiar voice.

Draco Malfoy was walking in. Unlike Crabbe and Goyle he looked utterly relaxed, his pale, grey eyes glittering coldly. He lifted his pointed chin arrogantly as he met Cedric's quizzical gaze.

"How conscientious of you. You're already late. It's a pity that you weren't so conscientious that you made sure you weren't late in the first place," Cedric said grimly.

"Yes, you're right of course," Malfoy said with mocking and exaggerated politeness. He was never overtly rude to the Hufflepuff prefect but the air of disdain and contempt was apparent in his every word and gesture.

Crabbe and Goyle were giggling foolishly and Cedric snagged the thickset Crabbe by the loops of his robes and he stood there, his arms held out stiffly as he continued to chuckle.

"What are you giggling about - just what have you been up to?" he asked suspiciously, a frown in his eyes.

"Maybe you should give the Mudblood a detention for missing class!" Crabbe said as he giggled trollishly, cracking his knuckles and then rubbing them in a menacing way. Cedric was uncowed, releasing Crabbe with an air of disgust.

"If she ever gets down," Goyle said in his low and raspy voice as he snickered. His small, dull, deep-set eyes stared unblinkingly into Cedric's suspicious eyes. Goyle was even more stupid than Crabbe if that was possible.

"Shut it!" Draco snapped angrily at his minions.

"Malfoy - spill it," Cedric ordered him. "And I've warned you before about using terms like that," he said sharply.

"Have it your own way, Cedric," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "I'm not telling you a thing. You're the champion, you're the clever one. _You_ figure it out," At the frown in Cedric's eyes, he continued disdainfully. "You've always been a bit of a Muggle-lover haven't you ... almost as bad as those Weasleys," he said cuttingly.

"Not all of us take pride in narrow-minded bigotry, Malfoy," Cedric said coolly. "One day you'll learn that it's what we do that matters not our bloodlines".

  


"How revoltingly noble of you," Malfoy sneered. "I saw you and your dad at the Quidditch World Cup. The way you helped those Mudbloods .... it would have been touching if it hadn't made me positively sick to the stomach," he bit out. "Don't you have any self-respect? Mudbloods are an abomination. Their presence should not be tolerated at this school".

"I'm devastated by your disapproval, Malfoy. Or rather, I would be," he said ironically. "... if I gave a toss what you thought". Malfoy's eyes kindled and Cedric smiled.

"By the way, Malfoy - I'm not a pure blood, you know," he said, a hint of malice in his voice.

Malfoy recoiled. "What?"

"Oh grow up, Malfoy. Given how obsessed you are with bloodlines, you should know how rare pure-blood families are. There are almost none of you left. Most families would have died out if they hadn't married Muggles ... or become inbred".

"But .. you're from one of the oldest wizarding families ...." Malfoy protested in consternation.

"Oldest wizarding family doesn't necessarily equate to being pure blooded," Cedric said with a careless shrug. "We haven't lived as Muggles for generations but that doesn't change the fact that there's Muggle in there somewhere". At Malfoy's look of disbelief Cedric laughed. "I can't give you the specifics - not all of us carry around our family trees with us for reference and obsess over them".

"You disgust me," Malfoy said slowly.

Cedric smiled slowly but there was no humour in his eyes. "And the feeling is likewise," he said. "Get to class. Now. All of you," he said coldly, not a trace of his usually easy-going expression on his face.

Even Malfoy looked slightly nervous at the grimness of Cedric's expression but said bullishly. "And why should I listen to a blood traitor?" he demanded.

Cedric looked very contemplative. "I've got Transfiguration exams coming up ..... ," he said consideringly. "I haven't been practising as much as I'd like - what with the Tournament and all....," he said shaking his head regretfully. He looked at Malfoy. "Say - I don't suppose you'd like to give us an encore of your bouncing ferret number would you?"

Malfoy flinched and the three Slytherins sidled off darting deadly stares at Cedric who watched them leave, an impassive expression on his face.

Cedric himself was late for class but wandered out onto the grounds in an attempt to ascertain what the three had been doing that had caused such glee.

It didn't take too long for him to figure it out. The trees lining the school grounds were tall, gnarled with age and thick with leafy foliage. He could see school robes and a pair of small feet hanging down from one of the higher branches. More tellingly, he could hear an infuriated voice muttering to herself.

While he felt sorry for her for being in this predicament, he couldn't help but acknowledge the glow of pleasure he felt at the sight of her. She was Potter's ever present shadow and loyal companion. She was always there but with the exception of their very brief exchange on the day of the World Cup, the two of them had almost never had the opportunity to have a proper conversation - something he intended to rectify immediately.

"You all right up there, Granger?" he called out as he approached.

"Fine, absolutely peachy," Hermione said irritably, looking down at the tall youth standing beneath the tree staring up at her with amused sympathy in his eyes.

"You don't look peachy," Cedric commented. Her face was stormy, her hair was flying in a wild, furious mess around her face looking violently bushy rather than just its normal state of impatient bushiness. "In fact, I remember a certain witch of my acquaintance once telling me in an endearingly breathless fashion that she thought it was rather weird to be sitting around in trees".

"I'm just ... collecting my thoughts..." she bit out abruptly.

"You're late for class".

"I am well-aware of that. Any other insightful comments you'd care to share?" she asked him acerbically and he grinned.

"Did you climb up there to avoid them?" he asked her.

"No," Hermione told him, staring down, her dark eyes snapping with temper. "They ambushed me and before I knew what was happening - I was in this tree," Hermione said bitterly. She looked more annoyed at having been caught off guard than she was by what they had done.

"And now you can't get down again?" he asked her. "You look like a kitten stranded up a tree, you know," he said looking amused even though he felt anger inside him at the thought of the behaviour of Malfoy and his cronies.

"I'm absolutely fine," she told him. "Please leave. I'd hate to cause you to be even later for your classes than you already are," she told him airily.

"And how were you proposing to get down from there?" he asked her, not moving from where he stood.

"That is absolutely _none_ of your concern," she said tartly. "In fact, I'm enjoying the view from up here prodigiously and the air is rather ... _refreshing_ ," she told him unconvincingly.

"I know you, Hermione Granger .... I suspect you'd rather cut off your own nose than skip a class ..." Cedric said softly. "Why don't you let me help you down?"

Hermione didn't move.

"That's really not necessary," she told him.

He reached out as if to try to touch her ankle which to be honest was rather well beyond his reach. "Don't be frightened. Let me help you. You won't fall - I'll catch you," he promised her.

"Please don't grope my leg. Stand back - I don't want you looking up my robes," she said hotly and he laughed.

"Fine!" he said agreeably.

She glared at him accusingly when he began climbing up the tree swiftly and with effortless ease.

"Get _down!_ The branch won't bear the weight of both of us! It might break and then we'll both die in horrible agony," she exclaimed trying to ward him off.

"Is there any other kind of agony?" he asked her with interest. "Don't worry - this tree is as sturdy as they come," he reassured her. He sat beside her on the thick branch, his legs dangling down beside hers and he glanced around with interest.

"You're right, the view's spectacular," he said enthusiastically, staring at the clear blue sky, the Quidditch pitch, the castle and then back at Hermione.

  


"Why are you staring at me?" she asked him warily.

"Didn't I just say? I'm admiring the view up here," he told her simply and she rolled her eyes.

"Go and play with someone else's mind. You don't think being tormented by Malfoy and his cretins was enough?" she asked him.

"I don't play games," he told her simply.

"You brought one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts to the Yule Ball .... don't try and make me think that .."

"One of,"he said interrupting her. "Cho is lovely. I'll never deny that and unlike many people, she's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside ..... "

"I'm ecstatic for you," Hermione told him in a small voice.

"But you know .... I've seen you, Granger .... bursting with enthusiasm, hair flying every which way ..... it's like you think you can drag Potter through the Tournament on loyalty and willpower alone," he said with a faint smile on his lips. "That's rather lovely you know".

"And your point is?"

"My point is ..... I suspect I'm sitting in a tree right now with the prettiest girl in the school," Cedric said whimsically and Hermione's eyes widened disbelievingly.

"Are you out of your mind?" She gestured rather wildly at her hair and stubborn face. The force of her movement made her wobble precariously on the branch and Cedric reached out immediately and caught her by the arm.

"Careful, you don't want to fall down you know," he told her warningly, his eyes very grave. "Agony, whether horrible or not is to be avoided at all costs". He reached out lazily and pulled her against his side, using his arm to keep her clamped safely against him.

Her breathing was a little quick as she stared at him in astonishment. He smiled and Hermione found herself marvelling at the difference between Cedric's eyes and Malfoy's eyes. Both had grey eyes but while Malfoy's were pale and cold, Cedric's would deepen with laughter and had a warmth and a brilliance completely lacking in Malfoy's chilling stare.

"You know .... I'm not actually widely regarded as a pretty girl you know ..." she said hesitantly.

Cedric looked thoughtful. "But wasn't it one of your famous Muggle playwrights who said _Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.  
And therefore is winged cupid painted blind_?" he asked her playfully.

Hermione's eyebrows drew together in a frown.

"Is that a nice way of telling me that I'm _ugly_?" she demanded, looking a little outraged and Cedric laughed.

  


"You really are the most suspicious, prickly little creature I've ever met in my life ..... " He didn't bother to elaborate on his compliment and she continued to stare at him suspiciously.

Cedric slanted a glance at her. "So. You and Krum?"

"Just friends!" she said with alacrity although she immediately felt embarrassed at her speed in replying.

"Snogged him?"

Hermione started blushing furiously. "That's absolutely _none_ of your business!" she exclaimed.

"I'll take that as yes," Cedric said. He looked unperturbed by her furious stare. "But you've never sat in a tree with him, yeah?"

"Never!" she assured him, laughter starting to brim in her eyes.

"Glad to hear it. Once you start tree-sitting there's no turning back," he told her, winking at her.

"And you and Cho?" she asked boldly.

"Snogged yes, but been near a tree together - a definite no," Cedric assured her gravely and Hermione started to laugh, the frown disappearing from her face, her dark eyes filling with genuine amusement.

Cedric smiled and with his free hand, reached up and touched the spot between her brows. "I like it when your frown vanishes ...." he told her. "Leaves more space for this massive smile of yours," he added, his fingertip tracing the curve of her smile. "You have a lovely face .... just kind of ... cranky-looking ..."

"Thanks ever so much," she told him.

"So ...." he said finally after they had been sitting there staring at one another with rather foolish smiles on their faces.

"So?"

"Want me to help you down from here?" His face was very close to hers.

Hermione shook her head slowly. "You know ..."

"Yes?" he asked her questioningly.

"I've discovered that ... I rather like ... sitting in trees...." Hermione said with a shy note in her voice.

Cedric smiled.

"I told you it had its benefits," Cedric told her with an air of smug self-satisfaction.

"Actually ... it all comes down to the company, really ..."

 **Ficlet #3**

"Hermione".

"Yes, Ron?"

Ron shifted awkwardly on the spot.

"Neville said he saw you head this way ...."

There was a long moment of silence. Ron tried again.

"Hermione".

"Yes Ron?"

"Why are you up in that tree?"

Hermione didn't reply and Ron stood beneath the tree, looking up searchingly into Hermione's face. She looked the same as she always did. Serious, her dark eyes grave and intelligent. There didn't seem to be anything different about her today to explain her rather odd behaviour.

"I thought you told me you couldn't climb trees ...." he said, a note of question in his voice.

"I guess I learnt how ..." she said in a low voice.

 _"Climb down .... I'm here, I'll catch you if you fall"._

 _"No .."_

 _"Don't be afraid .... I'll catch you, I promise ..."_

 _"That's what you said last time ... and the time before ..."_

 _"And I catch you every time, Granger .... you might start believing me,"_ he had teased her.

Given that Hermione was wont to burst into uncontrollable and stormy tears for the smallest of things, Ron was intensely relieved to see that Hermione was completely dry-eyed. It was a welcome contrast to the girls back in the castle who were bawling their eyes out over Cedric just because he was good-looking. Ron grimaced. He knew he was being unfair. Even without Harry telling him of all that happened, he knew fully well that Cedric had always been a decent bloke.

"It's time for Cedric's memorial service .. " Ron told her quietly.

"I can't, Ron," Hermione whispered, and Ron stared at her for a moment.

"We're all sad, Hermione ... Cedric was ... all right .."

Hermione didn't move.

"Come down .... Harry needs us" Ron said seriously,"Both of us," he said softly and there was no trace of mockery in his voice

Hermione still didn't reply.

 _"So I'll see you later? Our usual tree?"_

 _"This is silly ..."_

 _"What's so silly? It's not like I'm arranging to tryst with you at the Whomping Willow!"_

 _"You, me, us .... "_

 _"Don't get all coy on me now, Granger ... don't try and pretend you don't like it,"_ his gaze had been positively wicked as he had smiled down at her. _"Besides, no matter what else happens, if someone asks you what momentous thing happened this year, you can proudly answer: 'I learned how to climb a tree'!"_ Cedric had told her with a teasing smile in his eyes.

 _I kissed Cedric Diggory....._

 _I fell in love with Cedric Diggory....._

"You should go, Ron ...."

Ron sighed and sat down, leaning against the trunk of the tree and gazed out at the grounds of the castle.

"No .. I'll be here Hermione. Waiting until you're ready to come out of your tree".

Hermione tried to smile at his bad joke. "I'm not crazy, Ron".

"You're sitting in a tree refusing to come down, if that's not barking out of your tree crazy, what is it?" he demanded.

Hermione stared down at Ron's red hair. He was waiting patiently at the base of the tree. He probably wasn't in a hurry to go to the memorial service either.

 _"So what was going through your mind when you first saw me that day of the World Cup apart from the fact that I was weird for hanging out in trees?"_

"Apparently attractive boys _do_ just drop out of the sky," Hermione whispered to herself.

"What did you say?" Ron asked, glancing up at her curiously.

"Momentous things that happened this year ..." she murmured.

"Hermione - I'm not joking, it's a sign of insanity when you start talking to yourself," Ron said, looking slightly worried. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked her and the anxiousness in his face made her smile despite herself.

"Yes. I'm ready to come down now, Ron," she told him.

 _I lost Cedric Diggory....._

  
**The End**   



End file.
